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Rutgers' Ruhann Peele to remain at cornerback for at least the next two games

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Redshirt freshman Ruhann Peele, converted from wide receiver to cornerback last week to help shore up the secondary, will remain on defense for at least the next two games, coach Kyle Flood said today.
(William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

Even with Rutgers finally getting healthy again at the cornerback position, coach Kyle Flood liked enough of what he saw of converted wide receiver Ruhann Peele last week against Temple that the redshirt freshman will remain on the defensive side of the ball for at least the next two games.

Peele had been the Scarlet Knights’ third-leading receiver when he was moved to cornerback last week because of a personnel shortage. He played mostly as a nickel back but had an impact with a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

“Ruhann Peele is going to stay on defense though the Central Florida game (on Nov. 21), so that would be the next two-game block that we have,” Flood said following practice. “With the (Cincinnati) game a week from Saturday and the short week (the UCF game is a Thursday night) I don’t know that it would make sense to move him back after the next game.

“What we’ll do is we’ll re-evaluate it after the Central Florida game and see what the future will hold then.”

The decision to keep Peele on defense comes just as Rutgers is getting back to some sense of normalcy at the position during the bye week. True freshman Nadir Barnwell is back practicing after being suspended last week after he was charged with DWI on campus. He had started the previous four games.

Junior Gareef Glashen returned against Temple following a two-game absence for personal reasons and true freshman Delon Stephenson earned his first college start that game. Flood did not offer an update on true freshman Anthony Cioffi, who started the Houston game but was limited to special teams play against Temple due to an upper body injury.

Flood said there is “no pecking order at cornerback just yet,” adding that “we’ll have one eventually.”

“One thing I said to Ruhann when we made the decision that he was going to stay on defense is that we’ll increase his role,” Flood said. “What that means in terms of who goes out there the first play, I don’t know that yet.

“But I thought Ruhann certainly played a significant role in the game on Saturday and I think with more practice time through the bye week and more time in the classroom with coach (Darrell) Wilson and coach (Dave) Cohen, I think he can increase what he can do for us.”